Coca Cola Co-opts the Revolution

This is a kind of fascinating example of corporate commodification of the revolution and Tahrir. Among the things to notice: there is, in reality, a giant Coca Cola sign that looms over the Square, but it’s not red and white, like the one in the ad (unless something has changed in the few weeks I’ve been away from Cairo.) It’s major charm is that it is old and decrepit, made of neon and , more importantly, it blinks back and forth between saying Coca Cola in English and in Arabic. (like this: الكوكا كول , but without the “al” at the beginning), unlike the one in the ad, which only displays English.

It is also interesting (and I guess indicative of their understanding of their target market?) that the version of Tahrir and “new Egypt” that they are selling does not include any veiled women (or anyone in traditional non-western clothing)–though this is a much more common site in Tahrir than blue skies.